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Saturday, 29 December 2012

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Antarctica
Antarctica

This map uses an orthographic projection, near-polar aspect. The South Pole is near the center, where longitudinal lines converge.
Antarctica (ⁱ/æntˈɑrtɨkə/ or /ænˈtɑːktɨkə/) is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km² (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages at least 1 mile (1.6 km) in thickness.
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89 °C (−129 °F). There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista. Vegetation where it occurs is tundra.

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Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying it as one of the mediterranean seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Alternatively, the Arctic Ocean can be seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean.
Almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America, the Arctic Ocean is partly covered by sea ice throughout the year (and almost completely in winter). The Arctic Ocean's temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes; its salinity is the lowest on average of the five major oceans, due to low evaporation, heavy freshwater inflow from rivers and streams, and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher salinities. The summer shrinking of the ice has been quoted at 50%. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) uses satellite data to provide a daily record of Arctic sea ice cover and the rate of melting compared to an average period and specific past years.

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Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

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Barents Sea
The Barents Sea (Norwegian: Barentshavet, Russian: Баренцево море or Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents. It is a rather deep shelf sea (average depth 760 feet (230 m) and maximum depth 1,480 feet (450 m)), bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the islands of Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Arkhangelsk Oblast) in the northeast and east. Novaya Zemlya separates the Kara Sea from the Barents Sea. Significant fossil fuel energy resources exist in the Barents Sea region.
The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk (Russia) and Vardø (Norway) remain ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. In September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. Until the Winter War (1939–40), Finland's territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at Petsamo being Finland's only ice-free winter harbor.

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Champ Island
Champ Island (Russian: Остров Чамп; Ostrov Champ) is an island in the central area of Franz Josef Land, Russia.
Champ Island has a surface of 374 km² (144 sq mi) and there is a wide unglacierized zone in the southwest of the island. The highest point of the island is 507 m (1,663 ft).
Champ Island is the southernmost island of the Zichy Land subgroup of the Franz Joseph Archipelago. It is separated by narrow sounds from Luigi Island in the north and Salisbury Island in the northeast.
The broad channel in the west of Champ Island is known as Markham Channel (Пролив маркама; Proliv Markama), after British polar explorer Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham.
This island was named after William S. Champ, who was the representative of the late William Ziegler and leader of the relief operation searching for Anthony Fiala of the Fiala-Ziegler Polar Expedition.
A piece of a century-year-old ski was found in Champ Island, at Cape Trieste (Mys Triest) in August 2006.
Coordinates: 80°40′26″N 56°14′13″E / 80.6739°N 56.2369°E / 80.6739; 56.2369

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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Frégate Island
Frégate Island or sometimes Frigate Island is a private island and is the easternmost (55 km (34 mi) east of Mahé) of the granitic Inner Islands of the Seychelles. It is only 2.19 square kilometres (0.85 sq mi) and is primarily known as a secluded, private luxury resort and its Anse Victorin beach was voted "The World's Best Beach" by The Times. It was named by explorer Lazare Picault after the abundance of frigatebirds on the island. The hotel underwent modernizing in 1995 on the island and the island is also noted for its snorkeling.
The island is covered with takamaka, cashew and Indian almond trees and is home to the rare Seychelles Magpie Robin as well as several relocated Aldabra Giant Tortoises. It also has the flightless Tenebrionid Beetle which is endemic to Frégate Island and millipedes.
The highest point on the island is called Mount Signale, which reaches a peak of 125 metres (410 feet) in the central west area of the island. The Riviére Bambous flows from approximately 300 metres north-east of the mountain where it flows down past the Gros Bois Noire and Plaine Magnan areas of the northern inner island and then acutely northeast until it reaches the Indian Ocean north of the airstrip on the east coast. Beaches on the north coast include from west to east the award winning Anse Victorin beach, Anse Maquereau and then Anse Bambous on the north-east corner of the island. On the western point of the island there is the Pointe Fouqué and then on the southwest coast the Grand Anse, Petit Grande Anse and the small beach Anse Felix. On the southeastern coast there are the small beaches of Anse Coup de Poing and Anse Parc. There is a still a plantation house on the island, this is located near the eastern coast of the island south of the airstrip.

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Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula (or, more generally, by southern and western Asia); on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, by Antarctica). The ocean is named after the geographic location of India.
As one component of the interconnected global ocean, the Indian Ocean is delineated from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian running south from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific by the meridian of 146°55' east. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf. This ocean is nearly 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) wide at the southern tips of Africa and Australia; its area is 73,556,000 square kilometres (28,350,000 sq mi), including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

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Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.

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Kara Sea
Coordinates: 77°N 77°E / 77°N 77°E / 77; 77
The Kara Sea (Russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, Karskoe More) is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. It is named for the Kara River (flowing into Baydaratskaya Bay), which is now relatively insignificant but which played an important role in the Russian conquest of northern Siberia.
The Kara Sea's northern limit is marked geographically by a line running from Cape Kohlsaat in Graham Bell Island, Franz Josef Land, to Cape Molotov (Arctic Cape), the northernmost point of Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya.
The Kara Sea is roughly 1,450 kilometres long and 970 kilometres wide with an area of around 880,000 km² and a mean depth of 110 metres (360 ft).
Compared to the Barents Sea, which receives relatively warm currents from the Atlantic, the Kara Sea is much colder, remaining frozen for over nine months a year.

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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (ⁱ/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.

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MacKlintok Island
MacKlintok Island or MacClintok Island (Russian: Остров Мак-Клинтока; Ostrov Mak-Klintoka) is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.
This island is roughly square-shaped and its maximum length is 33 km (21 mi). Its area is 612 km² (236 sq mi) and it is largely glaciated. Its highest point is 521 m (1,709 ft).
MacKlintok Island is located very close to the west of Hall Island, separated from it by a narrow sound, Proliv Negri. The island's northernmost point is Mys Grili (Greely Cape). The southwestern point is MacKlintok Island and the southeastern Mys Oppoltsera.
MacKlintok Island was named after Irish explorer of the Arctic Francis Leopold McClintock.
Coordinates: 80°09′27″N 56°29′08″E / 80.1575°N 56.485556°E / 80.1575; 56.485556

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North Pole
Coordinates: 90°N 0°W / 90°N 0°W / 90; -0
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It should not be confused with the North Magnetic Pole.
The North Pole is the northernmost point on Earth, lying diametrically opposite the South Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of true north. At the North Pole all directions point south; all lines of longitude converge there, so its longitude can be defined as any degree value.
While the South Pole lies on a continental land mass, the North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with constantly shifting sea ice. This makes it impractical to construct a permanent station at the North Pole (unlike the South Pole). However, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, have constructed a number of manned drifting stations on a generally annual basis since 1937, some of which have passed over or very close to the Pole. In recent years, a number of studies have predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free due to Arctic shrinkage, with timescales varying from next year to fifty years or more.

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Northern Hemisphere
Coordinates: 45°0′0″N 0°0′0″E / 45°N 0°E / 45; 0
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator. Earth's northern hemisphere contains most of the planet's land, and roughly 90% of its human population. See also Arctic, Temperate zone, Tropics, Seasons and Climate
Due to the Earth's axial tilt, winter lasts from the winter solstice (typically December 22) to the vernal equinox (typically March 20), while summer lasts from the summer solstice (typically June 21) through to the autumnal equinox (typically September 21).
The Arctic is the region north of the Arctic Circle. Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic experiences some days in summer when the Sun never sets, and some days during the winter when it never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the North Pole.

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Oman
Oman (ⁱ/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-MAAN; Arabic: عمان‎ ʻUmān), officially called the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان‎ Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam enclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.
For a period, Oman was a moderate regional power, formerly having a sultanate extending across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, and modern day Pakistan, and far south to Zanzibar on the coat of south-east Africa. Over time, as its power declined, the sultanate came under heavy influence from the United Kingdom, though Oman was never formally part of the British Empire, or a British protectorate. The Omani royal family claim that Oman has been ruled by the Al Said dynasty since 1744, although without substantial proof. Oman has long-standing military and political ties with the United Kingdom and the United States, although it maintains an independent foreign policy.

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Pechora Sea
Pechora Sea (Russian: Печо́рское мо́ре, or Pechorskoye More), is a sea at the northwest of Russia, the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. The western border of the sea is off Kolguyev Island, while the eastern border is the western coasts of Vaygach Island and the Yugorsky Peninsula, and the northern border the southern end of Novaya Zemlya.
The Pechora Sea is quite shallow, its average depth being only 6 m. The deepest point reaches 210 m. In the southern part of the sea runs the eastward-flowing Kolguyev Current. There are a few islands close to the coast, the largest of which is Dolgiy Island.
The Pechora Sea is blocked by floating ice from November to June. The main river entering the sea is the Pechora.
Historically, before the adjacent Barents Sea was named as such, the Pechora Sea's own name was already established. The rest of the present-day Barents Sea was known then as "Sea of Murmansk" (Murmanskoye Morye).
The Pechora Sea was used as a starting point of the exploration of the hitherto unknown icy seas lying to the east. The earliest recorded voyage across the Pechora Sea through the Yugorsky Strait was made by early Russian explorer Uleb, from Nizhny Novgorod. Uleb's passing into the Kara Sea was recorded in 1032.

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Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf is located in Western Asia between Iran (Persia) and the Arabian Peninsula. It is an extension of the Indian Ocean.
The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for what was called the "Persian Gulf War" or the "Gulf War" when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, despite the fact that this conflict was primarily a land conflict.
The Persian Gulf has many good fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has come under pressure from industrialization, and in particular, oil and petroleum spillages during wars in the region.
Historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, although neither of the latter two terms are recognized internationally. The name Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf) is used by the International Hydrographic Organization.

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Qeshm
Coordinates: 26°41′43″N 55°37′06″E / 26.69528°N 55.61833°E / 26.69528; 55.61833
Qeshm (Persian: قشم - pronounced kē´shm) is an Iranian island situated in the Strait of Hormuz, and separated from the mainland by the Clarence Strait/Khuran in the Persian Gulf (26°50′N 56°0′E / 26.833°N 56°E / 26.833; 56).
Qeshm Island is located a few kilometers off the southern coast of Iran (Persian Gulf), opposite the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Khamir. The island, which hosts a 300 square kilometer free zone jurisdiction, is 135 km long, and lies strategically in the Strait of Hormuz, just 60 kilometers from the Omani port of Khasab, and about 180 kilometers from the UAE Port Rashid. The island, at its widest point, located near the center of the island, spans 40 kilometers. Similarly, at it narrowest point, the island spans 9.4 kilometers. The island has a surface area of 1491 square kilometers and is 2.5 times the size of Bahrain. Qeshm city, located at the easternmost point of the island, is 22 kilometers from Bandar Abbas while the closest point of the island is but two kilometers from the mainland.

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Russia
Russia ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

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Réunion
Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la 'ʁeynjɔ̃] ( listen); previously Île Bourbon) is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.
Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.
Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century, there is little to Réunion's recorded history. Arab traders were familiar with it by the name Dina Morgabin,. The island possibly features on a map from 1153 AD by Al Sharif el-Edrisi. The island may also have been visited by Swahili or Malay sailors.
The first European discovery of the area was made around 1507 by Portuguese explorers, but the specifics are unclear. The uninhabited island may have been first sighted by the expedition led by Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, the Mascarenes. Réunion itself was dubbed Santa Apolonia after a favorite saint, which suggests that the date of the Portuguese discovery may have been February 9, her saint day. Diego Lopes de Sequeira is claimed to have landed on the island in 1509.

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Seychelles
Seychelles (ⁱ/seɪˈʃɛlz/ say-SHELZ; French: [sɛʃɛl]), officially the Republic of Seychelles (French: République des Seychelles; Creole: Repiblik Sesel), is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar.
Other nearby island countries and territories include Zanzibar to the west, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega and Réunion to the south, Comoros and Mayotte to the southwest. Seychelles, with an estimated population of 86,525, has the smallest population of any African state. It also has the highest Human Development Index in Africa.
Scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers, and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. Remains of Maldivian mariner presence from the 12th century were found in Silhouette Island. The earliest recorded sighting by Europeans took place in 1502 by the Portuguese Admiral Vasco da Gama, who passed through the Amirantes and named them after himself (islands of the Admiral).

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South Pole
Coordinates: 90°S 0°W / 90°S 0°W / -90; -0
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole. Situated on the continent of Antarctica, it is the site of the United States Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which was established in 1956 and has been permanently staffed since that year. The Geographic South Pole should not be confused with the South Magnetic Pole, which though geographically nearby, is defined based on the Earth's magnetic field.
For most purposes, the Geographic South Pole is defined as the southern point of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface (the other being the Geographic North Pole). However, the Earth's axis of rotation is actually subject to very small 'wobbles', so this definition is not adequate for very precise work; see Polar Motion for further information.

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Southern Hemisphere
Coordinates: 45°0′0″S 0°0′0″E / 45°S 0°E / -45; 0
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere (from the Greek word σφαιρα (sphere) +ημι (half)) literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere". It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator.
The Southern Hemisphere contains all or parts of four continents (Antarctica, Australia, most parts of South America and southern half of Africa), four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific, and Southern) and most of Oceania. Several islands off the Asian continental mainland are also in the Southern Hemisphere. Due to the tilt of Earth's rotation relative to the Sun and the ecliptic plane, summer is December to March and winter is June to September. September 22 or 23 is the vernal equinox and March 20 or 21 is the autumnal equinox.

Climates in the Southern Hemisphere overall tend to be slightly milder than those in the Northern Hemisphere at similar latitudes except in the Antarctic which is colder than the Arctic. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and much less land. Water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.

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Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean (also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean, and the South Polar Ocean) comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions. This ocean zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer subantarctic waters.
Geographers disagree on the Southern Ocean's northern boundary or even its existence, with many considering the waters part of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans instead. Others regard the Antarctic Convergence, an ocean zone which fluctuates seasonally, as separating the Southern Ocean from other oceans, rather than the 60th parallel.Australian authorities regard the Southern Ocean as lying immediately south of Australia.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has not yet ratified its 2000 definition of the ocean as being south of 60°S. Its latest published definition of oceans dates from 1953; this does not include the Southern Ocean. However, the more recent definition is used by the IHO and others.

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Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz /hɔrˈmuːz/ (Arabic: مَضيق هُرمُز‎ Maḍīq Hurmuz, Persian: تَنگِه هُرمُز‎ Tangeh-ye Hormoz) is a narrow, strategically important strait between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.
The strait at its narrowest is 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide. It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points. Around 20% of the world's oil, which is about 35% of seaborne traded oil, passes through the strait.
The opening to the Persian Gulf was described, but not given a name, in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st-century mariner's guide:
In the 10th to 17th centuries AD, the Kingdom of Ormus, which seems to have given the strait its name, was located here. Scholars, historians and linguists derive^{[dead link]} the name "Ormuz" from the local Persian word هورمغ Hur-mogh meaning date palm.^{[dubious – discuss]} In the local dialects of Hurmoz and Minab this strait is still called Hurmogh and has the aforementioned meaning.^{[citation needed]} The resemblance of this word with the name of the Persian God هرمز Hormoz (a variant of Ahura Mazda) has resulted in the popular belief^{[citation needed]}^{[neutrality is disputed]} that these words are related.

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Tropic of Cancer
Coordinates: 23°26′16″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°N 0°E / 23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith. This event occurs once per year, at the time of the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, besides the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dictated by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when the Sun reaches the zenith at this latitude, it is entering the tropical sign of Cancer (summer solstice). When it was named, the Sun was also in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab). However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. However, according to tropical astrology, which divides the ecliptic in twelve 30º sectors, starting with the vernal equinox, the Sun is always entering Cancer at this time, as the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the Sun. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek τροπή (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

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Tropic of Capricorn
Coordinates: 23°26′16″S 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°S 0°E / -23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, marks the most southerly latitude on the Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun to its maximum extent.
The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It currently (Epoch 2012) lies 23° 26′ 16″ south of the Equator.
It is currently drifting north at the rate of almost half a second (0.47″) of latitude, which is about 15 metres, per year (it was at exactly 23° 27' S in year 1917).
The Tropic of Capricorn is the dividing line between the Southern Temperate Zone to the south and the tropics to the north. The northern hemisphere equivalent of the Tropic of Capricorn is the Tropic of Cancer.
The position of the Tropic of Capricorn is not fixed, but rather it varies in a complex manner over time; see under circles of latitude for information.

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Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan (ⁱ/tɜrkˈmɛnɨstæn/ or ⁱ/tɜrkmɛnɨˈstɑːn/; Turkmen: Türkmenistan), formerly also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения), is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.
Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate of 11% in 2010^[update] ranks 4th in the world, but these figures are subject to wide margins of error. It possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert.
The Turkmen government operates as a single-party system. Turkmenistan was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (called "Türkmenbaşy" — "leader of the Turkmens") until his sudden death on 21 December 2006. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov was elected the new president on 11 February 2007.

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United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates ⁱ/juːˌnaɪtɨd ˌærəb ˈɛmɪrɨts/ (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎, Al Imārāt al ‘Arabīyah al Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates or the UAE, is a country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north.
The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities), each governed by a hereditary emir, with a single national president. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the state's center of political, industrial, and cultural activities.
Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom. The term Pirate Coast was also used by some to refer to the emirates from the 18th to the early 20th century, owing to the preponderance of pirates operating from Emirati ports.

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Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan ⁱ/ʊzˌbɛkɨˈstɑːn/, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is the only doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of only two such countries worldwide. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.
Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It became independent on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day).

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Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term^{[citation needed]} for the half of the Earth that lies west of the IERS Reference Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the Antimeridian (the International Date Line), the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.
In this sense, the Western Hemisphere consists of the North America, South America, the western portions of Africa and Europe, the extreme eastern tip of Russia, numerous territories in Oceania, and a portion of Antarctica, while excluding some of the Aleutian Islands to the southwest of the Alaskan mainland.
The term is, however, often used in political rhetoric to mean only North America and South America (or the New World) and adjacent islands, however, the Western Hemsiphere does technically include all of the above mentioned territory.
In an effort to define the Western Hemisphere as the parts of the world which are not part of the Old World, there also exist projections which use the 20th meridian west and the diametrically opposed 160th meridian east to define the hemisphere. This projection excludes the European and African mainlands and a small portion of northeast Greenland, but includes more of eastern Russia and Oceania (e.g., New Zealand).

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41 East 56th Indianapolis IN

Large 3BD/2FB home in Meridian Kessler. Living Room has hardwood floors, cathedral ceiling...

published: 13 Jan 2011

author: DigitalHomeInfo

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Map of all coordinates from Google Map of first 200 coordinates from Bing
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Place data as RDF

Co-ordinates	Country, territory or sea	Notes
90°0′N 56°0′E / 90°N 56°E / 90; 56 (Arctic Ocean)	Arctic Ocean
81°18′N 56°0′E / 81.3°N 56°E / 81.3; 56 (Russia)	Russia	Islands of Jackson, Salisbury, Champ, Alger and MacKlintok, Franz Josef Land
80°4′N 56°0′E / 80.067°N 56°E / 80.067; 56 (Barents Sea)	Barents Sea
75°11′N 56°0′E / 75.183°N 56°E / 75.183; 56 (Russia)	Russia	Severny Island and Yuzhny Island, Novaya Zemlya
72°46′N 56°0′E / 72.767°N 56°E / 72.767; 56 (Kara Sea)	Kara Sea
71°21′N 56°0′E / 71.35°N 56°E / 71.35; 56 (Russia)	Russia	Yuzhny Island, Novaya Zemlya
70°34′N 56°0′E / 70.567°N 56°E / 70.567; 56 (Barents Sea)	Barents Sea	Pechora Sea
68°38′N 56°0′E / 68.633°N 56°E / 68.633; 56 (Russia)	Russia
50°42′N 56°0′E / 50.7°N 56°E / 50.7; 56 (Kazakhstan)	Kazakhstan
45°0′N 56°0′E / 45°N 56°E / 45; 56 (Kazakhstan / Uzbekistan border)	Kazakhstan / Uzbekistan border
41°19′N 56°0′E / 41.317°N 56°E / 41.317; 56 (Turkmenistan)	Turkmenistan
38°4′N 56°0′E / 38.067°N 56°E / 38.067; 56 (Iran)	Iran
27°5′N 56°0′E / 27.083°N 56°E / 27.083; 56 (Persian Gulf)	Persian Gulf	Clarence Strait
26°57′N 56°0′E / 26.95°N 56°E / 26.95; 56 (Iran)	Iran	Island of Qeshm
26°45′N 56°0′E / 26.75°N 56°E / 26.75; 56 (Persian Gulf)	Persian Gulf	Strait of Hormuz
25°52′N 56°0′E / 25.867°N 56°E / 25.867; 56 (United Arab Emirates)	United Arab Emirates
24°58′N 56°0′E / 24.967°N 56°E / 24.967; 56 (Oman)	Oman	For about 9km
24°53′N 56°0′E / 24.883°N 56°E / 24.883; 56 (United Arab Emirates)	United Arab Emirates	For about 4km
24°51′N 56°0′E / 24.85°N 56°E / 24.85; 56 (Oman)	Oman
24°7′N 56°0′E / 24.117°N 56°E / 24.117; 56 (United Arab Emirates)	United Arab Emirates	For about 6km
24°4′N 56°0′E / 24.067°N 56°E / 24.067; 56 (Oman)	Oman
17°55′N 56°0′E / 17.917°N 56°E / 17.917; 56 (Indian Ocean)	Indian Ocean	Khuriya Muriya Bay
17°31′N 56°0′E / 17.517°N 56°E / 17.517; 56 (Oman)	Oman	Island of Al-Hallaniyah
17°29′N 56°0′E / 17.483°N 56°E / 17.483; 56 (Indian Ocean)	Indian Ocean	Passing just east of the islands of La Digue and Frégate, 22x20px Seychelles Passing just west of the island of Coëtivy, 22x20px Seychelles Passing just east of the island of Réunion, France
60°0′S 56°0′E / 60°S 56°E / -60; 56 (Southern Ocean)	Southern Ocean
66°10′S 56°0′E / 66.167°S 56°E / -66.167; 56 (Antarctica)	Antarctica	Australian Antarctic Territory, claimed by Australia

56th meridian may refer to:

56th meridian east, a line of longitude east of the Greenwich Meridian
56th meridian west, a line of longitude west of the Greenwich Meridian

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